


Say Something (I'm giving up on you)

by Mia_alwa



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Blow Jobs, Bullying, Car Sex, Established Relationship, Graphic Description, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kid Fic, Lawyer Harry, M/M, Marriage, Parenthood, Sad Harry, Sad Louis, Smut, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-03-16 11:27:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13635354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mia_alwa/pseuds/Mia_alwa
Summary: Harry and Louis have it all, when one day a tragic event threatens to break them and their family.Or:Where Harry and Louis have to deal with the fact that they can not protect their children from the world, but they can try to put them back together.****This is my very first fic, so please bear with me. Also English isn't my first language, so feel free to point out any mistakes you might find.****That being said, I hope you will like it.DISCLAIMER: This is a work of complete fiction.





	1. Pray for me

The day it happened started like every other. Harry was already at work while Louis was getting the kids ready for school. Well, he really only needed to get the 6- year old Charlie ready for school. As he was trying to tame her long brown curls which made her look so much like Harry, he was calling out for Marie to hurry. They were already running late, that happened too often lately. When Marie still didn’t show up in the hall when Charlie was already putting her shoes on, Louis gave up on calling after her and went upstairs to her room instead. He knocked on the door and entered without waiting for an answer. “Marie, we really need to leave now. Are you ready?” The 16-year old was sitting on her bed with her mobile phone in her hand, thank god she seemed to be fully dressed and ready to leave. “What are you doing love? I was calling you a million times from downstairs.” Marie looked up at him with her big blue eyes and brushed her long brown hair behind her ear, standing up. “Sorry dad, I’m ready now. We can leave.” “Is everything alright? You seem upset. Are you not feeling well or something?” She gave him a half-hearted smile “No, I’m fine.” Louis wasn’t convinced at all but let it slide for now, he would talk to her later and try to find out what was going on, they were really running late and he needed to be at work in half an hour. 

Harry and Louis always wanted to start a family early. That’s why they got a surrogate when they were only 20 and 22, who gifted them with Marie and made them the happiest parents ever. They decided to use Louis’ sperm for their first child, that’s why Marie got his bright blue eyes and feathery brown hair, and also his wit. Lately, these blue eyes haven’t been so bright though and also the wit didn’t appear so often anymore. They both had noticed the change, Harry also tried to talk to her a few times when she came home from school in a bad mood, but all they ever got was a “I’m fine.” And that was it. They never wanted to push her but Louis was starting to get a bit concerned. He made a note to himself to call Harry after he dropped the kids off at school and talk to him about it. Louis was pretty sure it was just a teenage thing and Marie was getting to cool to talk to her parents about stuff like that, but he wanted her to know that her dads were always there for her anyway.  
After he had dropped both girls off at their respective schools, he went on his route to work. Since Charlie was in her first year of school, Louis started a half time job again at a magazine during the mornings. It was perfect, because he could pick Charlie up after school again and often could write his articles at home while watching her. They both agreed that Louis stayed home with the kids, so Harry could concentrate more on his career. When Marie was starting school at 6, he got his own law firm and was working a lot. He always took enough time to be with his family though and Louis was grateful for that.  
It was only a ten minute drive from Charlie’s school to his work place, so he quickly dialled Harrys number after he got into his car again. He picked up after the second ring “Hi babe, everything alright?” “Yes, everything is fine. Just dropped the kids off and on my way to work now. I’m just calling because Marie seemed to be upset this morning again and I’m starting to get a bit worried. We really need to talk to her again this evening to find out what’s wrong.” Harry sighed “I noticed that too. We will definitely talk to her later. Listen love, I really need to go now I have an important meeting coming up. Talk to you later, love you.” Louis said his goodbyes and they hung up. 

After that Louis’ day went on pretty normal. After work, he picked up Charlie from school, made her some lunch, helped her with her homework and then took her to her ballet class. Marie had a long day at school and wasn’t expected to be home before 5pm anyway. Harry normally came home at 6pm to have dinner with the whole family. It was their tradition, they talked about their days and afterwards spend some quality time together, watched a movie together or played a board game. This evening went different though.  
*

When Louis came home at 5:30pm with a tired Charlie in tow, he got a weird feeling in his stomach but didn’t know why. Marie’s shoes were standing in the hallway, so she must be home already. He had gotten a text from Harry earlier saying that he was running late tonight and probably couldn’t make it in time for dinner, as he had another meeting at work. That happened sometimes, but usually it didn’t bother Louis, he knew Harry was trying to avoid being late. Tonight though, he would have preferred if Harry was home earlier so they could take the time to talk to Marie. “Daddy, can I go and watch some TV?” Charlie looked up at Louis with tired eyes and a hopeful smile. “Sure love, go ahead. I will just go up to say hello to your sister quickly and then start on dinner. Don’t fall asleep on the couch though, or you won’t sleep tonight.” He warned her playfully. She was already shaking her head and then running off to the living room where she flopped down on the couch and started on her favorite cartoons. Louis shook his head fondly and started up the stairs to ask Marie what she wanted for dinner. He hoped that being allowed to choose dinner would put her in a better mood than she has been this morning. He knocked on her door and actually waited for an answer this time. When none came, he knocked again. “Marie? Can I come in?” Again, no answer. He carefully pushed the door to her room open. It was empty, but he could see her school bag next to the bed and her phone was lying on her nightstand. Frowning, Louis made his way into the room. The weird feeling in his stomach grew, he tried to stay calm though. He was just being ridiculous. He made his way to the en-suite door, she was probably just taking a shower, even though he couldn’t her it running. He tried to open the door anyway, it was locked. “Marie? Are you in there?”, he called for her again. Still no answer. He was starting to feel panic rising in his chest. “Marie, please open up!” His thoughts started running. Maybe she slipped in the shower and hit her head and was now unconscious. He had no idea what to do when still no sound was heard from inside and was contemplating to break through the door, then he remembered the second key they had in their bedroom. He ran into the bedroom, got the key and hurried back. Finally he could open the door to his daughters bathroom. 

*  
Nobody could have prepared him for what was waiting inside. It was like everything happened in slow motion. He burst through the door and everything just stopped. Marie, his precious little girl, was lying on the bathroom floor, looking pale and so so small. Louis dropped to his knees beside her, looking for any signs what was wrong with her. Just then his gaze fell to the empty bottle of sleeping pills next to her lifeless hand. Louis felt sick to his stomach. He started frantically shaking her, screaming her name and listening for any signs that she was still breathing. He couldn’t make anything out. With shaking hands he got his phone out, called 911 and then started with the revitalisation how he had learned it from his mum, who was a nurse and always made sure her children knew what to do in situations like this. But Louis never thought he would have to apply those at his own little daughter. If someone would ask him later how he even remembered what to do in this situation, he wouldn’t have an answer. It was like it wasn’t him anymore who was pressing down on Marie’s chest in an attempt to get her heart to continue beating, while murmuring “no” over and over. After ten minutes which felt like a lifetime the ambulance finally arrived and the paramedics took over. Louis was sitting sobbing in the corner of the bathroom and looking on the scene in front of him, when he heard a small voice calling for him. Charlie stood in the bathroom door with wide eyes, staring down at her sister lying on the floor. Louis rose from the floor and picked her up to get her out of the bathroom. “Dad, whats happening with Marie? Whats wrong?” She was crying now too. “It’s going to be fine love, they are going to take her to the hospital. Everything is going to be fine.” Louis didn’t know if he was trying to calm her down or himself, he was shaking all over. The paramedics were rushing Marie out of the house now to get her to the next hospital. When Louis was running down the stairs with Charlie in his arms to follow them in his car, he was met with a confused looking Zayn standing in the hallway. “Louis, I saw the ambulance in front of the house. What the hell is going on? What happened with Marie? Why are they taking her to the hospital?” He looked panicked. Louis crushed into Zayn’s arms, squashing a crying Charlie between them and just broke down. He couldn’t even think about how to explain to Zayn what just happened. Zayn loved Marie with all his heart, was there from day one and was of course chosen to be her godfather. But Zayn always knew how to stay calm, especially in stress situations, so he wasn’t waiting for an explanation from Louis and just took the matter in his own hands. After seeing Louis break down he just seemed to know that he had to hold it together, for both Charlie and Louis now. He patted Louis on the back, took Charlie from his arms and just said “Get in the car, I’m driving.” And Louis was so so grateful for him in this moment. Just then he remembered that he had to inform Harry. He felt sick to his stomach again. They got in the car and Zayn was speeding after the ambulance, while Louis dialled Harrys number. He didn’t pick up, he had to be still in this meeting. After trying several times, Louis grew desperate. He just needed Harry there in the hospital. After the fifth time of not reaching him the voicemail picked up “Harry, I need you to come to the Hospital immediately. Something happened to Marie. Please hurry, I need you.” Just then they pulled up to the hospital and hurried out of the car.


	2. 2. Walking in the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for everyone reading, I hope you like it.
> 
> I will update this every weekend, the next chapters will be also a bit longer.
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> All the love  
> Joh

When Harry arrived at the hospital, he had no idea what to expect.  
Louis message on his mailbox had been cryptic, just that something was wrong with Marie. Harry had of course hurried to the hospital and was now waiting impatiently at the information desk. “Listen Miss, I really need to know where my daughter and my husband are. Something bad happened, could you please hurry up?” He was drumming his fingers on the desk nervously. There was a sudden voice behind him “Harry? Finally!” “Zayn, thank god! Where are they? What happened?”. He took in Zayn’s worried gaze and his red eyes, he had been crying. “I’m so sorry man.” Zayn hugged him close and Harry didn’t know what to think at all. What the hell happened? Finally, Zayn started to lead him down the long corridor.  
Harry hated hospitals. Everything smelled like illness and dead, it just didn’t feel right to be here. The last time when he was here was when they had to say goodbye to Robin, his stepdad, which was the worst day of their life's so far. Harry tried to shake himself out of this memory and focused on the here and now.

They stopped in front of one of the doors, big letters said “Intensive care”. Harry just stared at Zayn who gestured for him to go in. As soon as he entered, Louis was in his arms. “Thank god you are here.” Harry hold him close and pressed a kiss to his hair. Over Louis’ shoulder, he could see Marie lying in a hospital bed. She looked so fragile it broke his heart. He let go of Louis and went to her bed, brushing her hair of her face. “Please tell me what happened Louis.”, he murmured quietly without looking up. He couldn’t stop looking at her pale face, she looked kind of peaceful. “I don’t know what happened Harry, I just came home with Charlie and I found Marie in her bathroom, an empty box of sleeping pills next to her. I thought she was dead Harry. I thought she was dead...” Louis started crying again, Zayn right next to him holding him up. “I just don’t understand. I can’t believe she would do something like this. How couldn’t I see that she was so sad that she would want to die.” “Sshh Lou, its not your fault. She will be fine.” Zayn was desperately trying to calm Louis down. “I’m sorry, I- I need a moment.” Louis left the room. 

Zayn looked at Harry apolitically. “He is completely out of it. I can’t imagine what it was like to find her like this, lying on the bathroom floor. He was completely breaking down after they took her away in the ambulance.” Harry just nodded. He still couldn’t look away from Marie, he felt like he could never leave her side again. After a short pause, Zayn spoke again: “The doctor said we have to wait until she wakes up to see if it caused any damage. Her brain was out of oxygen for a while, that’s why she fell into a coma. Apparently its still critical but she is so strong Harry. She is such a strong girl.” Harry still couldn’t do anything besides nodding. Silent tears were streaming down his face. How could he let this happen to his precious girl? Who hurt her so much that she would do that to herself? 

The door to the room opened again and Lottie was standing her, Charlie in her arms. “Papa!”, the little girl screamed out, wriggeling herself out of Lottie’s arms and running up to Harry. He wiped his tears away and sat her on his lap. “Hey my little angel. I missed you”. He kissed her head and hold her close. “Is Marie still sleeping?”, she asked him, her big green eyes looking up at him. “She needs to rest for a while love.” Lottie gave him a kiss on the cheek and sat down beside him. “Thanks for taking care of her Lots.” She just squeezed his hand silently. 

After half an hour, Louis came back into the room and sat down on the other side of Marie’s bed. He and Harry were silently holding hands over the bed, just being there for each other and waiting for something, anything to happen so their sweet girl would wake up again. When it got late, Lottie left with Charlie in tow. She assured them that she could stay with her as long as necessary so they could both stay with Marie. When it got close to midnight, Zayn left as well. Assuring them he would be back in the morning and to call if they needed anything.

At some point, Harry must have fallen asleep, because as he wakes again, it is to bright light blinding him and to hushed voices. He sits up and stretches, his neck hurts like hell from sleeping all night in a sitting position. Slowly, he registers where the voices are coming from. Louis is standing by the door with a man who Harry assumes must be Marie’s doctor. When Louis sees that Harry is awake as well, he comes over to him and kisses him on the cheek. “Morning love, didn’t want to wake you up.” “No its okay, what did the doctor say?” Harry runs his hand through his long hair. “No changes in her condition at all.” Louis sighs and flops down into his lap. “I don’t know what to do H, I still can not believe what happened. When I woke up this morning, I thought it was a dream. Reality hit me fast though.” His eyes are filling up with tears again, so Harry pulls him in and holds him closely. He needs to be the strong one in this, he tells himself. 

Harry was always the more emotional one, whereas Louis was the one who gets easily angry and snarky, but never lets someone see how much he is hurting. He was always protecting Harry, being maybe smaller but his personality makes totally up for that. This time though, Louis is breaking down because this is about their baby. So this time, Harry needs to be the strong one, for Louis. They will get through this, Marie will get through this and everything will go back to normal. At least that’s what he is telling himself. 

All day long there was still no change in her condition. Anne, Harry’s mum stopped by, shocked about what happened, she couldn’t find any words. Harry felt pretty much the same. They talked to Lottie over the phone and they agreed that it would be better for Charlie if she stayed out of the hospital for a while, the whole thing too scary for the little girl. Zayn stopped by again was well and brought them fresh clothes to change and toothbrushes, so they could freshen up a bit. Harry was so thankful for their friends and family right now.

It was already evening when Harry came back to the room. He had been down at the cafeteria to get something small to eat for Louis and himself, with Louis still refusing to leave the bedside. He sat down wordlessly and handed Louis a sandwich. Louis just took it and laid it down on the bedside table next to him wordlessly. “I want to know why.” He said suddenly. Harry looked up at him. “I want to know what happened that seemed so horrible to hear that she thought she couldn’t talk about it with us. I want to know what happened that THIS,” he paused, trying to gain his composure again, “seemed to be her only solution.” Harry nodded, he couldn’t think about anything else since he got here as well. He can not think of anything at all. “Maybe we could talk to Alex? Maybe she knows something? She has to.” Alex was Marie’s best friend since first grade. They were in the same class from the beginning and were inseparable ever since. “You are right, she must know something. We have to tell her what happened anyway.” Louis stood up, seeming determined. “I’m going to see her. I just need to know so I can make any sense of it. Can you please stay here so Marie isn’t alone? Call me if anything happens.” He didn’t wait for Harry to answer and rushed out of the hospital room.

Harry sighed to himself and grabbed Marie’s cold hand again in his. “My little angel. What hurt you so bad. WHO hurt you so bad?”, he whispered while silent tears fall down his face. Louis will find out, he was sure of it. When he put his mind onto something, he could be very persistent. Harry really hoped he would find out what happened, but at the same time he was really scared to know. If it turns out that someone hurt his little girl, he didn’t know what he would do to them. 

And that thought scared him.


	3. It‘s got to get easier somehow (but not today)

Louis was speeding but he couldn’t help it. His stomach was in knots, as it has been for the last 24 hours since he found Marie on the bathroom floor. He was anxious about what he was about to do. What if Alex had no idea why Marie did what she did? What if she knows what happened to her, and what if it was so awful Louis couldn’t handle hearing about it? Either way, he needed to know.

Ten minutes later he was pulling up in front the house of Alex’ family. When Alex opened the door, she looked kind of confused finding Louis there. “Louis, what are you doing here? Ah, you probably want to pick up Marie’s homework, hold on a sec I will go and get it. Why wasn’t she in school today anyway? Is she sick?” Alex blabbered on and was already about to turn around and go upstairs to get the homework before Louis could even utter a word. “Alex, hold on. I’m not here for her homework.” The teenager looked now even more confused, but just now seemed to notice the state Louis was in. Then she started to look worried. “Did something happen. Is she okay?”. “No, she is really not and I need to know why Alex.” Louis sounded angrier than intended but he was starting to get impatient. Alex reaction was immediate. Louis thought that she didn’t look too surprised, she knew something, he was sure about it. What he didn’t expect though, was her next reaction. 

“This is all my fault. I didn’t help her. I wasn’t there for her. She called me yesterday after school, I couldn’t pick up because I was studying with Tom. Oh my god. Did she hurt herself? What happened Louis?” “Why do you think she hurt herself. Alex what is going on here? You didn’t help her with what?” Neither of them seemed to notice that they were still standing in the hall with Louis outside the open door. “She..I.. I don’t know. She had problems in school the past few months…I don’t know what to tell you Louis. Please tell me if she is going to be okay.” The girl was full on crying now, but Louis couldn’t bring himself to reassure her, he was too upset that she apparently knew something was wrong but told nobody. He knew he was being unfair but he really couldn’t change what he was feeling right now. 

“We don’t know if she is going to be okay. She is in the hospital because she fucking tried to kill herself yesterday after school. She still hasn’t woken up.”  
“Oh my god.” Alex sank down to sit on the stairs and buried her face in her hands. “Alex, please, you need to tell me what happened at school. What kind of problems?” The teenager was shaking all over. “There.. there were some girls at school. Anna and her gang. They were picking on her since we started school but in the last months it has gotten worse, way worse. They were bullying her and writing awful things on social media about her. I knew that it was getting to her, but I never would have thought..”, she trailed of, clearly exhausted. “I can show you some of their messages on social media if you want”, she said then quietly. Louis nodded. He didn’t know what to expect really. What kind of things could these girls say to his daughter that made her feel like there was no other way to get out of that. 

He followed Alex upstairs to her room, where she opened her laptop. He sat down beside her. “It’s mostly on Facebook and Twitter. They also sent her things over text messages but obviously I don’t have those messages. They even made a group on Facebook called “We hate Marie Tomlinson”. It was awful, but it got deleted after we reported it.” Alex turned her laptop screen so Louis could read. There were comments under a picture Marie recently uploaded. Louis remembered Harry taking the picture, it was just before Marie wanted to go out to a party a few weeks ago. She looked so beautiful in her dark green dress. His eyes filled with tears just by looking at his beautiful daughter. Then he scrolled down through the comments. They were horrible. 

\- Kill yourself  
\- You are so ugly it hurts  
\- Nobody likes you  
\- Did you made that dress yourself lol XD  
\- Nobody cared, go die. 

Louis couldn’t believe what he was reading. “Why are they doing that? What the fuck is that? Why did nobody report that shit? Why did nobody tell us?” The anger was boiling hot inside of him. What kind of persons are these girls? “Why didn’t you convince her to tell us, or a teacher, or anyone?” His anger was now directed at Alex, because she knew about this and didn’t do anything to stop it. It was unfair and irrational but he couldn’t stop himself. 

The teenager was still crying “I’m so sorry Louis, I never thought she would do something like this, and she begged me not to tell a teacher. She told me that she could deal with it alone.” Louis snorted. Clearly Marie couldn’t deal with it alone. And she shouldn’t have to. He really thought he and Harry taught their children that they could talk with them about anything. Louis tried now to keep his composure, it was not helping Marie to put the blame on her best friend. She was probably feeling guilty enough on her own. 

“Look, I know you are sorry. We can not change anything right now anyway. But I need you to write me down the names of these girls, everyone involved. I will got to talk to your principal as well first thing tomorrow. These girls need to be called in account for this.” Alex nodded quickly and got up to her desk to write the names on a paper. She handed it to Louis wordlessly, wiping away her tears. Louis heart broke a little, she looked devastated. “Come her love.” He opened his arms and Alex hugged him tight, buried her head in his shoulder. “Its okay, I know it isn’t your fault. I’m sorry I was so harsh on you earlier. I’m just..I’m just trying to understand what happened and why she didn’t talk to us.” Alex just nodded wordlessly and it seemed like she wanted to say something, but Louis’ phone went off just in this moment. He hastily pulled it out of his pocket and saw Harry’s name flashing up. “Haz, what’s wrong?” He already thought the worst. 

“Louis”, Harry was breathing heavily through the phone. He sounded panicked. “Louis, you need to come back to the hospital immediately. I don’t know what happened, I just sat there with Marie and then this monitor went off and her heart stopped beating and they sent me out of the room. And..oh my god, please come Louis, I’m so scared.” Harry was choking on sobs right now and before he even finished talking, Louis was already out of the room and flying down the stairs, Alex in tow. “I’m on my way.” He hung up the phone, his heart was beating quickly in his chest and all he could think was “Please god, don’t take her away from me. Please don’t let her die.” One minute later he and Alex were sitting in the car, already speeding in the direction of the hospital, neither of them speaking a word.


	4. Do we see the same things in the mirror?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm sorry for the late update, but I was really busy last weekend, but I might be uploading a second chapter this weekend, so stay tuned.
> 
> Thanks again to everyone who is reading this, it means a lot.
> 
> All the love   
> xx Joh

Harry didn’t know what was happening around him. One minute ago, he was patiently sitting next to Marie in the uncomfortable hospital chair, the rhythmical beeping of her heart monitor lulling him into a half sleep. The next minute, the beeping started to go faster and faster and then there was a line on the monitor. Technically, Harry knew what that meant, only from movies but still, right now he just didn’t understand what was happening. There were people rushing into the room, shouting orders at each other. An older, kind looking nurse ushered him out of the room, her voice calm but firm. Harry just realized he was crying then, with shaking hands he grabbed his mobile and called Louis, eyes never wavering from the door, trying to somehow see through it to know what was happening with Marie. 

*  
When Louis arrived just 20 minutes later, Alex in tow, Harry crashed directly into his arms. “Whats going on Harry?”, Louis asked him with a panicked voice. “I..I don’t know Louis, I was just sitting there and then her heart just stopped beating and.. I don’t know, everything happened so fast.” He barely heard Alex drawing in a harsh breath, tears streaming down her face. “I need to see her. I need to be there for her!”, Louis demanded, pulling the door open. Harry could see on his face that he was totally shocked, at least 6 people were hovering over Marie’s bed, the monitor again beeping really quickly. “Sir, you cant be in here, please!.” It was the same old nurse again, Harry started to get annoyed of her kind face. 

She didn’t let no count for an answer, and soon Harry and Louis stood outside in the hall again, helpless. Just then Harry remembered Alex, the teenager sitting down on one of the chairs, her head in her hands. Harry never felt that helpless in his whole life. “Its going to be okay love. They are going to help her.”, he tried to reassure and comfort Louis. “You don’t know that Harry!”, Louis shouted, pacing restlessly up and down the hall. “And all that because of some stupid high school girls, who can not mind their own business.”, he muttered, his face an angry mask. “Wait, what are you talking about? What girls?”, Harry asked confused. Louis then started explaining what he found out at Alex’ house, the kind of messages these girls were sending to Marie. Harry could feel his blood boil. How dare these girls doing that to his sweet girl. He couldn’t understand it at all, and he could see in Louis’ stumped expression that he was feeling the same.   
*  
Just then the door to Marie’s room openend, the doctor stepping out, Harry recognized him from this morning, a grey haired man who must have been in his 50’s. “We got her stable again. Hopefully it will stay that way. You have a strong young girl in there, she is a fighter.” Relieve flooded through Harrys body and he internally send a prayer to heaven that their little girl was still with them. “Thanks so much.” He hugged the doctor who seemed a bit surprised, but sent him a small smile. Louis was already back in the room, the last nurse just leaving Marie’s side. Harry beckoned Alex over, who still stood awkwardly in the hall, not sure if she would be allowed in the room. “Come on in Alex, she would be happy to see you. I’m sure she can feel that you are here.” The teenager sent him a grateful smile and stepped into the room, getting the chair on the opposite side of the bed. 

*  
Harry then realized that it was already past dinner time and he hasn’t called Lottie yet to talk to Charlie and wish the little girl a good night, as they were staying in the hospital over night again. “Lou, I’m going to grab some dinner downstairs and call Lottie to say good night to Charlie, she is probably missing her dads already. Do you need anything?” Louis shook his head, Alex did too after Harry asked her as well. He sighed and stepped out of the room, desperately needing a breather after the last night and day. He went downstairs and out of the hospital to go to the Pizza place just down the street. 

While he walked, he facetimed Lottie and Charlie. Lottie assuring him that it was no problem at all, that Charlie needed to stay the night again. The little girl was a little upset, not really understanding why her dads had to stay in the hospital with Marie, why the three of them couldn’t just come home. After they hung up, Harry also called both of their mums and his sister Gemma and Zayn, who were all desperately waiting for an update on Marie. All of them said that they were coming to the hospital tomorrow, so Harry and Louis could go home for a while to shower and change their clothes. He was so thankful for their families and friends, knowing that they loved Marie just as much as he and Louis did. 

*  
When Harry came back to the room an hour later, after he walked around for a bit, Alex was already gone and Louis was on his phone in the room. Harry laid a slice of Pizza down on the table, having brought Louis something to eat anyway. He wordlessly sat down on Louis’ lap, his husband sighing contently and hooking his chin over his shoulder, hugging him from behind. 

“How is Charlie? I miss our little girl.” “She is fine, a bit upset because she doesn’t understand why we have to stay in the hospital tonight again. But I promised her we are going to pick her up from Lottie’s tomorrow. Our mums, Gemma and Zayn are coming over tomorrow to stay with Marie, so we can go home for a while.” Louis didn’t look too pleased with the idea to leave their daughter, but he knew they needed to be there for their other child as well, and he really needed a shower and a change of clothes, so he just hummed in agreement. 

They were sitting in silence for a while, just enjoying each others presence. After a while, Louis spoke up again: “You know I can’t let that go with the girls. I will go to the school first thing in the morning tomorrow to confront them. I know its not helping Marie to get better but I need to know why they did it. I need them to know WHAT they did to her.” His voice started to shake. Harry just sighed, holding his husband tighter. “Yes love, I knew that. I know you better than you know yourself. And I also understand that you feel the need to do that. That’s why I’m coming with you. We will go before we pick Charlie up from Lottie.” Louis gave him a small kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.” He said quietly. 

After a while, both men started to fall asleep, exhausted from the day.


	5. Just for tonight, pretend that its all alright

The next morning, there was still no change in Marie’s condition, but the doctor assured them that this was a good sign and that her body just needed the rest. He seemed to be more confident than before and that calmed Louis’ nerves a bit. As promised, most of their families arrived together early, bringing Harry and Louis some breakfast that they ate gratefully. Louis still didn’t like the idea of leaving Marie alone at the hospital, but he knew she was in good hands with their moms, Gemma and Zayn. He also really missed Charlie, and he knew Harry was feeling the same, so after telling their families at least 5 times that they should directly call them if anything happens, they made their way out of the hospital to pick Charlie up from Lottie’s house. 

*  
When they arrived in front of the house, Charlie was already running out of the door into Harry’s open arms, who had jumped out of the passenger seat quickly. Louis smiled fondly at them, the first natural smile he managed since the incident happened. He got out of the car too, picking up Charlie out of Harry’s arms, squeezing her tightly. “I missed you little girl.”, he buried his nose into her long hair, breathing in her familiar smell. “Missed you too daddy, loads. But auntie Lottie and I did a lot of fun things too.” “You did? You have to tell me all about it as soon as we are home.” Charlie nodded happily and squirmed out of his arm, getting into the car already, ready to go home. “Thanks again for looking after her Lottie. We owe you.” But Lottie brushed him off, hugging both men tightly. “Stop it Lou. She was a pleasure as always. Any news from Marie?” Harry shook his head. “She is going to wake up soon. I’m sure of it.” She squeezed Louis’ hand tightly and then made her way back to her front door. “Call me if you need anything, or there are any news.” “We will! Thanks again!” Harry called after her and both men got into the car again to drive home for the first time in 3 days. 

*  
When Louis entered the front door, all the memories hit him like a brick against his head from the last time he was in this house, when he found Marie on the bathroom floor. It seemed like it happened weeks ago. Louis started to control himself, needing to be strong now, at least for Charlie. Harry could somehow sense his discomfort and put a hand on his elbow, squeezing reassuringly. “Do you want to take a shower first? I will give Charlie a bath and then I will make us a quick lunch.” Harry said, and Louis nodded numbly. All the three of them went upstairs, Harry disappearing in Charlie’s bathroom, starting to running a bath for the little girl. Louis couldn’t help it, somehow he was drawn to Marie’s room. He quickly went through it and into the bathroom. Everything looked normal and like nothing happened, and Louis couldn’t bear it. Something had happened, and It was someone’s fault it happened. He quickly ran back into Marie’s room, frantically starting to look through her drawers and her desk. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but needed to find something, anything, that would proof who did this to his girl. Something that had indicated want went through Marie’s mind, if she had it all planned out or if it was just a spur of a moment kind of thing. He didn’t realize that he started crying until a loud sob escaped his mouth and he sank down on the floor in the middle of his oldest daughter’s room. 

*  
That’s how Harry finds him 15 minutes later, after he finished dressing Charlie after her bath and the little girl was curled up in front of the TV. She didn’t stop asking questions about Marie during her bath time and Harry was at a loss what to tell her. He didn’t want to lie to Charlie, but he couldn’t tell her the truth either, so he just assured her that her big sister would be home again soon. That seemed to help a bit and the little girl was now happily watching her favorite cartoons.   
“Oh Lou.” , Harry breathed out and rushed towards his husband, who was still sitting on the floor, sobbing in his hands. “It’s going to be fine babe, she is going to be fine.” Harry hold Louis close, letting him cry it out on his shoulder. After a few minutes, Louis seemed to have calmed down a bit. “I just don’t understand all of this Harry. I really want to go the school now to confront these girls and her teachers about it. Somebody must have known about it and did nothing to help her.” “Okay love, that’s what we are going to do. Go and take a shower quickly, I will call Liam in the meantime and ask him if he can come over to watch Charlie for a bit, so we can go to the school and do just that. We are going to find out what was going on. I promise.” He kissed Louis head and Louis nodded slowly. 

*  
After both men had showered and Harry had prepared some sandwiches for lunch, the doorbell rang. Harry quickly got up to get it, leaving Louis on the couch with Charlie in his lap. “Hi mate, thanks so much for coming over so quickly.” “Sure H, no problem at all. How is Marie? Any update?” Harry shook his head. “No, but the doctor is confident that she is going to wake up soon. Look Li, Louis is really upset at the moment and wants to go to the school as soon as possible. So we are going to leave now if it’s alright. We won’t be long.” “No worries at all, take your time. I know how important it is for you to find out what caused all of this.” Harry nodded thankfully and they both went to the living room. Charlie was as expected very delighted to see her favorite friend Liam, so she wasn’t too upset that Harry and Louis were leaving her alone again.  
*  
The car ride to the school was a short one and only filled with silence. Louis was shaking his leg up and down nervously, so Harry put a calming hand down on his leg, otherwise staying quiet. It was in the middle of a lesson when they arrived, so the halls were empty. Harry had called beforehand to schedule a meeting with the director of the school, the woman at the reception desk already knowing what was going on. Apparently Anne had called the school yesterday already to let them know what happened and to excuse Marie from the lessons, something neither Harry or Louis had even thought of. The director obviously made time for them directly, so they didn’t need to wait and were ushered into his office quickly after arriving. The director was an old man, around 70, Harry estimated, and he was wondering why he was not retired already. Mr. Jones had white hair and his face was full of creases, but his eyes were alert and kind. Next to him, there was a younger woman, maybe around Louis’s age, who Harry recognised as Marie’s class teacher Ms. Brown. 

Mr. Jones was clearing his throat then “Mr. and Mr. Tomlinson, I heard what happened and I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am for what you are going to. Marie is an amazing girl and I hope she will recover quickly. How is she? Did she wake up yet?” Harry could sense Louis boiling with anger next to him, so he quickly but his hand on his leg and started talking before Louis could. “No, she hasn’t woken up but the doctors are confident that it is going to happen soon. We have to wait for that until they can tell if there is any further damage to her brain due to loss of oxygen.”, he explained. Mr. Jones seemed genuinely sad and stunned to hear that, but before he could talk again, Louis angry voice cut in. “You know that people from this school did this to her? Right under your nose my little girl was bullied and you did nothing to help her! How could you not notice what was happening in your class?”, he looked at Ms. Brown. “It is your fucking job to make sure our kids are save in this school and yet, you let this happen. Alex told us that these girls were bullying Marie for months now, it is impossible that you didn’t notice anything about that!” Ms. Brown looked genuinely affected by that outburst, but she quickly caught herself. “I’m really sorry what happened Mr. Tomlinson. I noticed that there was some tension between some girls in the class and Marie, but you have to understand that nobody could have predicted this. Also, I really didn’t know that it was this serious. We talked to Alex Miller already this morning, and she told us everything in detail. But Marie didn’t come to us before to ask us for help. If she had done that, I would have done something about it.” 

Louis just scoffed at that. “You must have noticed the change in her behaviour, she was getting more quiet and unhappy. She was even like this at home, but she wouldn’t tell us anything about it.” “It is true that I noticed that, but I thought it was just a normal teenager thing. Teenager are like that, and they don’t want to talk to adults about their problems. Again, if Marie would have seeked help, we would have helped her.” The director nodded in agreement at that. Harry knew that they were right, nobody could have predicted that this was going to happen. They had noticed the change to and yet, never in a million years he would have thought that Marie would do this.   
But to his right, Louis also deflated a bit, but then spoke again:” I want to talk to these girls. I want to hear it from them why they did it. I want to look into their eyes and see how they feel about what they did to her.” Mr. Jones nodded:” We thought you would want that, so we set up a meeting with them and their parents tomorrow night at 7pm in this office. Their parents already have notice of that, but I doubt that any of them know why they need to come here. I doubt the girls told them anything about it, but you can’t meet them without them.   
“We are fine with that”, Louis said shortly and took Harry’s hand in his.

*  
Shortly after that, both men left the office of the director and went back to the carpark. They were quiet again, both too busy thinking about what they’ve heard and what was coming tonight. Harry knew it would be difficult for Louis to see these girls and he hoped that he could control his anger against them. 

When they got home, Liam just finished making cookies with Charlie, so they all sat together to eat them and listening to Charlie telling them what she did in the past days, to spend some quality time with the little girl. She needed to have the attention of her dads too, so they listened to her intently.   
Liam left soon after that, assuring them to call him if they needed anything. They hadn’t heard anything from their families yet, so they were anxious to get back to the hospital. Jay arrived at 6pm to stay at their house with Charlie, so the little girl could sleep in her own bed that night, so Louis and Harry went back to the hospital to send the rest of their families home. There was still no change, so they settled down next to Marie’s bed again, exhausted from the day and fell asleep quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, there is a change in Marie's condition and Louis and Harry are going to meet the girls who are responsible for all of this, so stay tuned.


	6. I wish we could come back to these days..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the late update, but I was really busy last weekend and didn't have time to write at all.
> 
> I hope you like this one. Only one chapter left now. 
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> xx Joh

It was the middle of the night, or at least it felt like that for Harry when he woke up slowly. He blinked his eyes open, at first not knowing what woke him up. But then he heard it again, there was a quiet noise coming from the direction of the bed, it sounded like a cough. Harry sat up hurriedly and yes, he wasn’t mistaken, Marie had her eyes open and was obviously trying to speak, besides the tube that was still down her throat. 

“Oh my god!”, Harry screamed out, rushing to her side and then out of the room, calling for a nurse and then quickly back in, not really knowing what to do. He noticed that Louis now was waking up too. “What’s going on Haz?”, he said worryingly. Just in the moment that he noticed Marie was awake, two nurses came rushing in. “She’s awake Harry, oh my god she is awake!”, he exclaimed loudly. Harry nodded, tears of joy streaming down his face. One of the nurses starting to speak calmly to Marie: ”Everything is okay sweetheart, we’ve got you. Stay calm, I just need to remove the tube quickly and then you can breathe and speak properly.” Marie was coughing, but seemed relieved once the tube was removed and slowly pointed to the water next to the bed, still not saying a word. “Sure love, come, have something to drink.”, Harry said, holding the straw up to her mouth and Marie started drinking gratefully.

“Thanks.”, she murmured with a rough and quiet voice when she was done. Harry could feel the tears coming again after hearing her voice for the first time in so long. “How are you feeling? Does it hurt somewhere? Do you need anything?” Marie shook her head: ”No, I just feel pretty exhausted and my throat hurts a bit.” “That’s because of the tube and because we had to remove your stomach contents, but it will get better soon. I will give you something against it.” One of the nurses said and both women left the room to give notice to the doctor and get some medications to make the girl feel better. Marie was looking carefully into Louis direction. Just then Harry noticed that his husband hadn’t said a word since Marie woke up. The other man was standing by the window, looking out of it in deep thought. “Dad?”, Marie said in a small voice. That had Louis turning around, tears streaming down his face. “Why Marie? How could you do this to us?”, he asked desperately and stared at his daughter with a pained expression. The teenager shrugged, tears starting to fill up her beautiful blue eyes and Harry could see she was starting to get worked up. “Lou, I think now is not the time for this. She needs to rest, we can talk about this later.” Louis just scoffed and left the room, uselessly wiping at his eyes. 

Harry sighed and sat down next to Marie on the bed, who was now fully crying. “You know he doesn’t mean to be like that.. He is still shocked, he found you, you know? It has been very traumatic for him but he loves you so much and is so happy that you finally woke up. Just like me. I hope you know that.”  
Marie wiped at her face, looking even more exhausted than before. She nodded :” I do know that Papa. And I didn’t mean for him to find me like that.. I don’t know, I didn’t think at all what would happen after. I’m sorry Papa, I didn’t want to hurt you.” “Oh baby, I know you didn’t.” Harry took her into his arms and both of them cried silently. “Its okay”, he kissed her forehead and just hold her close for a few minutes. A while later, the doctor came in to do some checks on Marie. “I’ll just be outside for a while love. I will be right back.” , Harry said and left the room, so the doctor could examine Marie properly. 

He found Louis just outside the door, sitting on a bench in the hallway with his head in his hands. Harry sat down beside him, not saying anything. Louis sighed audibly, :” I’m sorry I acted like that. I’m so happy she’s awake, I really am. But I’m also so angry, how could she do this to us? I just don’t understand what she has been thinking.” He was shaking his head. Harry draped his arm over Louis’ shoulder and shuffled closer to him. “I know how you feel and I understand. But she needs us now to be there for her. She needs to know that we there for her and love her no matter what. We can talk to her later when she is more stable but now is not the right time. And she especially needs this love from you Louis’. You are her idol, ever have been. She looks up to you so much and she needs you now, more than ever.” 

“You’re right. Thank you, I think I needed that.” Louis kissed him on the cheek, stood up and offered Harry his hand, who took it and squeezed it tight. Together, they entered the room again, where the doctor was just finishing up. “It looks like your daughter was really lucky gentlemen. There seems to be no remaining damage. We want her to stay here until tomorrow, to keep an eye on her. But I think if nothing comes up until then, you can leave with her tomorrow.” “Thank god. That’s really good news, we can’t thank you enough doctor.” Harry shook his hand gratefully, while Louis was already sitting next to Marie on her bed, talking to her quietly. 

Harry decided to give them some privacy, so he went out of the room with the doctor. “Mr. Styles, there is one more thing that I wanted to talk to you about, but not in front of Marie.” “Is everything okay? I thought there were no remaining damage?”, Harry asked anxiously. “No, no. That’s true. It’s about something else. Since she did that to herself, I need to make sure that you are going to get her into a therapy program. It is required for cases like this. I will give you the number of one of my colleagues from the psychology department.” “Oh yes, sure, thank you. We definitely will do that.” Harry stammered, hadn’t thought of that himself. 

Suddenly he was overcome with the fear that Marie could try something like this again, but he quickly got rid of this thought and went on to inform their friends and families about the good news. Everyone was really relieved about the good news. When Harry informed Jay, who was still at their house with little Charlie, he could hear the little girls screams out of joy in the background. They also promised to come by the hospital in the evening when Harry and Louis had their meeting at the school, Charlie now allowed to visit her sister since she was awake and better. After ending the call, Harry was smiling to himself, happy that the nightmare was almost over. Sure, they had a lot to talk about, but he felt like the worst part was over, now that Marie was awake. He was dreading the meeting this evening, he was scared to meet those girls who were responsible for all of this. He didn’t know what to say to them at all, and he couldn’t predict how Louis would react. When he entered the room again a bit later, Marie was asleep again and Louis sitting beside her, looking relieved. They obviously talked it out already. He smiled at Harry when he came in and patted his lap, so Harry sat down on him and they cuddled a bit, just enjoying each other’s company. 

Things were finally looking up. 

*

When Jay and Charlie arrived at the hospital later in the afternoon, Marie was way more awake and very happy to see her little sister and gran. They brought some games to spend a fun evening with her. Charlie was so happy to see her sister again, she directly jumped onto her on the bed, talking her ear off with everything Marie missed and made the older girl glow with happiness, which was amazing for the men to see. 

At about 5pm Louis and Harry left the hospital to go home to change and shower before their meeting at the school. Both were starting to get really anxious, Harry could see and feel that Louis was nervously fidgeting in the car seat next to him on the ride to their house, and he got an idea forming in his mind, kind of high on the joy seeing his older daughter awake and smiling again. 

He needed to take his mind off of this whole thing for a while and he knew that it would do Louis good too. So Harry turned right into a street that lead to a small patch of forest. “Uhm Haz, where are we going?” Louis looked at him inquiring. Harry just smiled at him and looked back on the street, shrugging. Louis seemed to catch on quickly though: ”You have dirty mind Styles.”, he said jokingly, but seemed to be excited about this idea all the same. It has been too long since the two of them got some alone time and the mind to do stuff like this. Harry parked the car in a deserted street just at the beginning of the forest. 

“We have to be quick, but I think we need this right now to take the edge off.” Louis nodded quickly and took his seatbelt off. “It has been too long, I’m craving you Haz”, he whispered, taking Harrys seatbelt off as well. Harry sucked in a breath, already growing hard in his pants, desperate for some physical contact. Louis smirked down at Harry’s lap “I see someone missed me too. Or this one.” Louis opened his jeans and pulled his cock out, already half hard. Harry nodded frantically and leaned over, not wasting any time and taking Louis into his hand, stroking a few times to get him completely hard. Louis groaned and let his head fall back on the seat, closing his eyes. Harry leaned down then to take the tip into his mouth, sucking slowly. Louis put his hands into Harrys hair to hold him there, thrusting up into his mouth slowly. Harry relaxed his jaw to take him in deeper. “Haz, I won’t last long, this feels so good.”, Louis moaned. 

Harry pulled off of his dick, licking a long stripe down his length: ”Go faster and harder Lou, I need this right now.”, Harry pleaded desperately. Louis moaned at his words, grabbing Harry’s hair tighter and thrusting up harshly. Harry’s eyes started watering and his jaw started aching, but he loved every second of it. He could feel his own cock straining against his boxers, begging for a touch, but he needed to get Louis there first. Louis thrusts started to get sloppy and his moans more high pitched, so Harry knew he was getting close. “I’m so close Harry, I want to come in your mouth.” Harry just moaned around his cock and swallowed again, making Louis come directly down his throat.

He sucked him through it and swallowed it all. Louis was still coming down from his high when Harry took his own cock out of his boxers, so hard it almost hurt. He got himself off with a few tugs, while Louis was licking into his mouth, tasting himself on Harry’s tongue, making Harry come hard on his hands and jeans. They kissed lazily for a while, not bothering to clean themselves up. “Thanks Haz, we really needed that.” Harry just smiled at him and pecked him on the lips. “I know we did. Lets go home to shower now, we are quite late.” And with that, they went back to reality, both a bit more calm about what was still in front of them. 

*  
When Harry and Louis arrived at the school an hour later, freshly showered, the nerves were back. Both men didn’t know what to expect at all. When they got into the room, Mr. Jones and Ms. Brown were already there, sitting in front of a table. On the opposite side were sitting 3 girls, they were about the same age as Marie, and every one of them had one parent right next to them. Louis could immediately spot the girl who must have been Anna. She was pretty, he had to admit, long blonde hair and expensive clothes and she stared bored on her nails. It made Louis blood burn already. The other two girls seemed a bit more worried, looking up anxiously when the men entered the room. The parents all looked a bit lost, not really knowing what was going on or why they were all here. Mr. Jones and Ms. Brown stood up to shake their hands and motioned for them to sit down on the head of the table. 

Louis took Harry’s hand into his own nervously, playing with his husbands many rings. Harry gave him a reassuring glance and looked back at the girls.  
“So, now that we are all here, I want to thank you all for coming. We have a very serious issue to discuss. One of our students, Marie Tomlinson, tried to take her life and we tend to believe that these girls might have something to do with it.” Some of the parents gasped in shock, looking at their children inquiring. The girls looked down on the floor, not speaking at all. “I’m very sorry to hear that, but I don’t think my daughter has anything to do with this. I want proof of that.”, the women who sat next to the girl Louis assumed was Anna spoke up. Louis was about to raise his voice at her but Harry put a calming hand down on his knee and shook his head slowly. Now was not the time. 

 

“Well Mrs. Parker, we do have some proof, as we received some copies of messages these girls send to Marie in the past. Especially your daughter seemed to have a problem with her.” , said the director calmly. He handed the parents some papers, which they quickly read, their faces changing into shocked quickly. “ I can’t believe that Sophie, why did you write something like this?”, one father asked his daughter shocked. Sophie, a small girl with dark hair, just shrugged and looked down on the floor. “Anna told us to do that.”, the other girl blurted out suddenly. “Shut up you Bitch!”, Anna hissed to her. Ms. Brown nodded knowingly, that was what she thought all along. “I figured. Anna, you want to say something about that?” Anna just shook her head, staring stubbornly in front of her. “We just want to know why you did this? Did you not think about what this could do to our daughter?”, Louis spoke up, his voice wavering. Anna looked at him indifferent and shrugged: “She had it coming. It’s not my fault that she is crazy enough to kill herself over some harmless messages.” “What the fuck is wrong with you?”, Louis jumped up from his seat, read to have a go at the girl but Harry crabbed his arm and pulled him down again. “She’s not worth it Lou, leave it.”, he whispered calmly to Louis. Even Mrs. Parker seemed to be shocked now about her daughters behaviour. “Well, since we have proof now, I think we need to discuss what the consequences are going to be for these girls.”, Mr. Jones said and got a book out. “That’s not fair! Those were just jokes, it’s not our problem that this child can’t take any jokes!”, said Anna angrily, obviously still not understanding that she was in the wrong. “I can’t be in the room with this girl any longer. If you don’t suspend her I will sue the school for neglecting their duty of supervision!. Let’s go Harry!” Louis stood and walked in the direction of the door, Harry quickly following, being proud somewhat of his husband. “Wait, Mr. Tomlinson?”, a small voice came after them once they were out of the room. Louis turned around and saw Sophie standing there, still not looking at them but on the floor. “I’m really sorry about Marie. I never wanted this to happen, I kinda liked her really. How is she?” Louis just stared at her in disgust, but Harry took his hand again and answered for him: “She has been better, but she will be fine. Thanks for apologizing, I can see you mean it.” The girl nodded and went back to the room to receive her punishment along with the other two girls.  
“You are way too nice. But I’m glad this is over. I don’t want to see these girls anymore at all.” Louis murmured and Harry kissed his cheek. They quickly made their way back to the hospital.


	7. Glorious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it - the final chapter
> 
> I hope you like it, thanks so much for everyone who has been reading.
> 
> Love you all
> 
> xx Joh

\- But I won't let them break me down to dust  
I know that there's a place for us  
For we are glorious - 

 

On the next day, they were finally able to bring Marie back home with them. The doctor did a last check up on her and deemed her ready to go, with the promise to get in touch with a psychologist directly.  
The young girl seemed a bit nervous when Louis walked to the car with her. Harry had stayed at home with Charlie for the last night, making sure to spend some quality time with their youngest. “Are you going to be okay?”, Louis asked and looked at her from the side. Marie nodded, brushing her long hair behind her ears. “I’m fine, glad to get out of here.” Louis wasn’t really convinced but stayed silent. The car drive was spent in silence too, just the music playing quietly in the background. They had decided to give her a quiet welcome, just them and the children to not overwhelm Marie on her first day back, but they agreed to have a dinner at their house with their family and Liam and Zayn in the evening. 

Charlie was immediately in the arms of her older sister as soon as they stepped through the door. Louis chuckled fondly at that and gave Harry a quick kiss in greeting. “Charlie, let your sister come in please.”, Harry laughed fondly when Charlie still had not stopped telling Marie everything that she missed in the last few days. The little girl pouted but took a step back and hugged Louis leg. “I’m really exhausted, I will go up to take a quick shower and then will lay down for a while.”, Marie started up in the direction of the stairs. “Uhm…”, Louis started, looking nervously between Harry and Marie, unsure how to voice his fears. “Can you please leave the door of your room open?”, he decided on and bit his lip. Harry shot him a warning glare and Marie’s face just showed anger and annoyance. Louis just hoped Harry would back him up about this, he really didn’t want to let Marie out of his eyes for one second. Harry seemed to sense how important that was for Louis, so he just stayed silent and nodded in agreement. Marie just huffed and took off up the stairs, but they heard her leaving the door open. Louis counted that as a win. 

“Thanks for this Haz. I really don’t have a good feeling when we leave her alone. I think she is scared, now that she is back in reality, in her real life, that everything will be the same as before.” Harry nodded at him understandingly and took Louis in his arms, gave him a quick kiss on the forehead:” I know how you feel. But we need to trust her again eventually. I don’t think she would do something like this again. But for the first days, its good to keep a close eye on her.”  
They both went to the living room, where Charlie was sat in front of the TV, happily singing along to her favorite theme song, and joined her on the sofa. 

Louis really tried, but he couldn’t relax at all. He knew that it was very unlikely that something would happen to Marie right now, but he caught himself a few times, listening closely for any movement upstairs. 

Charlie begged them to watch Frozen for the millionth time, and just when they had settled down and the movie began, Charlie sitting in Harry’s lap, Louis lying next to them, Marie entered the room. She smiled at them sheepishly and Louis patted the space on the sofa next to him. The teenager looked relieved and snuggled in close to him, Louis put her arm around her to hold her close. Harry and Louis smiled at each other over the heads of their children. This felt finally right again. 

Charlie and Marie both fell asleep half way through the film, so Harry and Louis carefully untangled themselves from them and went to the kitchen, where Harry started to prepare the dinner for tonight and Louis pretended to be helpful. While they were in the hospital, Jay had thankfully went shopping for them so the kitchen was fully stocked. Liam and Zayn arrived first, the bell waking the two girls up. They directly went into the living room to say hello to Marie, and Louis caught Zayn speaking quietly to her with a serious face, while Liam was playing with Charlie on the floor.

When the rest of their families arrived, they all sat down together on the table. The conversations were kept light and Louis could see that Marie was relaxing after a while and genuinely enjoying the time with her family. She probably thought they would treat her differently, but everyone was acting totally normal and Louis loved them for that. The rest of the evening went by uneventful and everyone left early, catching on at how exhausted Louis and Harry were, as well as Marie. Before they went home, Jay and Anne insisted to treat both girls for a girls day the next day, and Marie and Charlie excitedly agreed to that. It was important to get Marie out of the house and busy, but Louis suspected that their mothers also had another reason in their minds. When Jay winked at him before kissing him on the cheek to say goodbye, his suspicion was confirmed. “I think our mothers want us to have some alone time tomorrow”, Louis whispered to Harry quietly. “Yes I know, that’s what I asked of them.”, Harry winked at him and Louis stared at him speechless. He really had the best husband in the world. 

After everyone had left and the children were in the bathroom to get ready for bed, Louis did the dishes and went upstairs afterwards. He knocked on Marie’s room and saw that Harry was already in there, sitting on the bed with their daughter. He sat down next to them. “We are really glad to have you finally back home honey. Those last few days were really hard on us you know”, Harry spoke quietly, holding her hand tightly in his own. Marie nodded, looking down in her own lap. “We love you so much Marie, please never do something like this again. It will break our hearts”, Louis pleaded with her. A single tear fell down her cheek and she nodded again and when Louis wiped it away with his thumb, she brought her arms around both of her dads, hugging them tightly. “We will figure everything out, I promise. You don’t have to go back to that school, you can have a new start”, he continued. Harry, who was wiping at his eyes too now, nodded in agreement. “Now sleep love. We will see you tomorrow. Let us know if you need anything.” Both men kissed her on the top of her head and went to get out of her room. „Papa, Dad?“, a small voice piked up behind them. They turned around again. „I love you too. And I’m sorry, I won’t do it again, I promise.“ She looked ashamed back into her lap. Harry smiled at her „We love you so much, we will never let anyone hurt you again.“ When they closed the door behind them, Louis sighed „Don’t make promises like this H, the world is cruel.“ Harry took him in his arms: “I know, but I will be damned if I don’t do everything to protect her. All is going to be okay again. We already got through the worst, we will figure the rest out.” That may was a bit naive, but Louis could tell that Harry did not need someone to tell him that this was not possible, so he just smiled at him, took his hand and led him to their bedroom, where they fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the mattress, exhausted from the day and hopeful for the future. 

On the next day, Anne and Jay picked the girls up right after breakfast. Marie looked happy and Charlie was as excited as ever when she got to spend some time with her grans. The women had planned to take them to the nail studio and to the hairdresser, going for lunch and also a shopping tour afterwards. 

As soon as the girls were out of the door, Harry was on him, crowding Louis against the wall. He kissed him hotly, his fingers trailing down his back to his ass, gripping it tightly. “I missed this so much Lou”, Harry moaned into his mouth in between kisses. “My ass?”, Louis chuckled but couldn’t hide his own arousal. “That too”, Harry laughed and picked him up, pressing him tightly against the wall. Louis could feel his hard on already pressing up against his ass through Harry’s joggers. “Show me!”, Louis breathed hotly into Harrys ear and that was all Harry needed to hear. He carried Louis up the stairs. When they arrived in their bedroom, Harry was a bit out of breath, but never stopped kissing Louis while he lowered him down on the bed. Louis was incredibly turned on by how strong his husband still was, it made him hot all over. He started pushing Harrys shirt up, kissing and licking desperately at his chest and at his neck, surely leaving marks in the process. He took Harry‘s nipples into his mouth, sucking harshly, knowing how much his husband loved the sting. He took Harry’s shirt completely off and then his own. Harry hummed in approval and started sucking love bites on his neck and collarbones. “Harry please, I need you”, Louis begged. Normally, Louis liked being in control, liked to take Harry apart under him, but today he felt vulnerable and open and he wanted to show Harry exactly how he was feeling. Harry seemed to sense exactly what he needed, as he did always, and planned on giving him exactly that. He took his time while going down on him, first palming him through his pants, then taking them off slowly while kissing all over his thighs. He mouthed over his clothed cock, getting his boxers wet and sucking Louis’ precome out through it. When he slowly pulled of his boxers, Louis hissed on the cold air that hit him when his cock sprung free. Harry took him in his mouth immediately,deep throating him while Louis completely lost it in the sheets under him. “Harry please, need you.”, he moaned brokenly, already having difficulties to put coherent words together. Harry took his own pants off quickly and Louis almost came at the sight of his big hard cock, so hard for him already. God, it really had been too long. Harry got the lube out of the bedside table, coating his fingers quickly and started opening him up. Louis was writhing away in the sheets, the pleasure almost too much already, when Harry fingered him open and brushed his prostate with every twist of his long fingers. “I’m ready H, please, please..”, Louis was just a begging mess right now. He needed Harry closer, to forget about everything else. Harry chuckled but complied, not much better off himself and coated his cock up with lube and lining it up against Louis’ hole. He pushed in slowly but steadily and bottoms out quickly. He gave Louis some time to adjust, until Louis couldn’t take it anymore and started circling his hips, just to get something, anything more. “I love you so much Lou”, Harry’s breathed out and started thrusting, kissing him sloppily on the mouth. He went slow but deep and they kissed the whole time through it, whispering I love you’s and Need you’s to each other. It was intense and so full of love, it has been a while since they made love like this. When Harry brought his hand around Louis’ cock and said “Come for me Louis”, Louis came on the spot, Harry following quickly inside him. They were both out of breath when Harry pulled out of him, falling on his back beside him. 

They lay together for a long time after this, just holding each other and kissing without any intentions. They were sweaty and sticky, but neither of them cared, as long as they were close together. “She will get through this right? And everything will be normal again?”, Louis asked brokenly after some time, staring up at Harry with big blue eyes, that shined hopeful up at him. Harry felt like his heart broke by how unsure and scared Louis sounded, so all he could do was holding him even tighter and pressing a kiss to his sweaty forehead. 

“We will figure it out. We always do.” 

\---- THE END ---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!! 
> 
> If you liked it, please leave kudos and comments. 
> 
> All the love
> 
> Joh


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